Veterans of past outbreaks share what they're still trying to understand about the illness.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
School in Karnataka's Bidar booked for sedition over children’s play on CAA-NRC
Police have also booked a man for uploading a video of the play on Facebook.
Police in north-western Karnataka’s Bidar district have booked the management of a school and its owner for sedition over a video of children enacting a drama which is allegedly ‘objectionable’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The play was reportedly performed at Shaheen School in Bidar on January 21, and an FIR was filed on January 26. According to the FIR, the Shaheen Education Institute’s management and teachers have made minor children participate in a play where children are using objectionable language by saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be beaten with slippers. The complainant alleged that the play was spreading misinformation by saying that Muslims in India have to leave the country because of NRC. This message was shared on social media to spread misinformation, the complaint said. The video was uploaded as a recorded live from a Facebook account under the name of Mohamad Yusuf. The URL mentioned in the FIR no longer exists. In a video reportedly of the same event, a child is heard telling another child, “The government is telling Muslims to leave India and go away.” In reply, the other child says, “Amma, Modi is saying show documents of your father and grandfather otherwise he is telling us to leave the country.” At this point, another child is heard saying, “Hit them with slippers if anybody asks for documents.” In the FIR registered by New Town Police in the district,the unnamed President or Head of Shaheen School, and Management persons of Shaheen School have been denoted as Accused 1 and 2. The man who uploaded a video of the play on Facebook, Mohamad Yusuf has been named as Accused 3. They have been booked under sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting, attempting to promote disharmony) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by an ABVP activist called Neelesh. So far police confirmed there have been no arrests made in the case and they are carrying out questioning, including that of children. Reacting to the development, Mohammed Asem, an administrative staff at the school said, “There was a drama like performance by fifth-sixth standard students, there seems to be some use of (objectionable) words. We are aware of the police complaint. We ourselves are reviewing the content and investigating. We are trying to ascertain if there was any objectionable content in the play performed by students. This play was not a management decision.” In December 2019, in a school run by RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat in coastal Karnataka, children enacted the demolition of Babri masjid. The video of the incident showed a large number of children “demolish” a poster depicting the masjid and replacing it with a “Ram Temple” photo amidst chants of Ram, Sita, and Hanuman. The Chief Guests for the event were Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, DV Sadananda Gowda; Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi; and several Ministers from Karnataka including H Nagesh and Sashikala Jolle. Read: Karnataka school run by RSS leader makes kids ‘demolish’ Babri Masjid in a play
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‘Civic bodies harassing us over sewage, levying heavy fines’: Bengaluru residents
Residents living near Bellandur-Varthur lakes have alleged that the civic authorities are slapping heavy fines, to the tune of lakhs, after being pulled up by NGT over the pollution of the two lakes.
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Residents of many apartment complexes in Bengaluru, primarily those in Whitefield, Bellandur, HSR Layout and Bommanahalli, are alleging that they are being harassed and made scapegoats by authorities who were pulled by the National Green Tribunal recently over the pollution of lakes in the vicinity. Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF), a collective of apartment residents across the city have alleged that officials of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) are levying fines and resorting to other coercive measures without following due process. The NGT, in December 2019, had pulled up the KSPSB and the BWSSB over pollution in the Bellandur-Varthur lakes and stated that sewage water cannot be allowed to flow into lakes. Residents say that the KPSCB and BWSSB are now trying to show the NGT that they are taking coercive action against polluters, even as part of the BWSSB’s underground sewage network still empties into lakes. The apartment residents say the KSPCB, from the first week of January, started levying hefty fines to the tune of lakhs of rupees, citing non-compliance of output quality norms for STPs (sewage treatment plant), and fines to the tunes of crores citing the non-installation of STPs. In other cases, BWSSB is disconnecting underground drain connections from apartments while letting out treated sewage (grey water) into the sewage network. This despite the apartments paying huge sums of money to get those connections and regularly paying sanitation charges. ‘Non-compliant’ STPs Vikram Rai, the General Secretary of BAF, said that these fines were levied in a violation of norms based on allegedly ‘cooked-up’ reports. “In some cases, they are telling us that they had collected water samples from April and based on that they are going to impose penalties on us now. And in some of the cases, they have never collected any samples to our knowledge,” Vikram said. He added, “First of all, if there is any truth in that, why was the KSPCB waiting for this long to correct this anomaly, why weren’t we fined earlier? Secondly, this is devoid of any norms. According to the Water Act, the KSPCB has to first serve us a notice before collecting a sample and after collecting that they have to divide the sample into two parts equally, one which they can take themselves and the rest should be given to us. In these cases, there were no notices and no intimation.” Another apartment resident and member of the BAF told TNM that this is a clear case of harassment of apartment owners. The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the KSPCB had imposed hefty penalties, as high as Rs 1 crore, failing which power and water connections will be suspended based on faulty reports. “We ourselves do a regular test to check the quality of greywater in NABL (national nodal agency for labs), the accredited lab to check if our STPs are functioning or not, and we use it for gardening or washing our cars. So there is no doubt that these reports stated by the KSPCB are false,” he said. Issue of excess greywater out While the NGT order states that greywater should not be allowed to flow into the UGDs, there is no specific guideline in the NGT order over the disposal of excess greywater either. Greywater is all water-based fluids generated in households or office buildings from streams, except from toilets which contain faecal waste. Sources of greywater include sinks, showers, baths, clothes washing machines or dishwashers. “Now, it is not practical for many apartments to re-use this treated sewage. So after using it for flushing, gardening and other usages, we have no option other than to let it out. It is not possible for us to supply these excess treated water into industrial units or construction sites ourselves,” the resident added. Another apartment resident, Sajiv Subramanian, and who is also the secretary of Sethna Power Tower in Horamavu, said that even after paying close to Rs 95 lakh for their sewage and water connection, and a monthly fee of Rs 65,0000 for the same, apartment residents are subjected to harassment. Many apartment dwellers TNM spoke to said that they are considering going to court collectively against the civic authorities to settle the matter. ‘Not the first instance’ However, this friction between apartment dwellers and the civic authorities over sewage management is not new. Around the end of 2017, there were large protests by the members of the BAF, following which the BWSSB went back on its order to set up STPs for old residential complexes (constructed before 2016). Nagesh Aras, a lake activist advocating for the setting up of STPs, said the problem of treating sewage has been there for years and the NGT orders have brought the matter into the fore only now. He criticised the KSPCB for issuing fines to apartments based on samples collected from April and its refusal to follow due process. He added the KSPCB currently does not have any existing norm for giving consent to establish or operate STPs. “Instead, they usually sanction each and every STP design without much scrutiny. Moreover, the KSPCB is mandated to train or have a certification process for STP operators under the Water Act, but that is also lacking in practice. So apartment residents are unaware whether the STP installed by the builder is good, nor is there a mandated third-party audit before the apartment residents take over the operation of the STP from the builders. Normally, the STPs are handed over to the residents once the residents form an association and start managing other common amenities,” Nagesh said. The official word Meanwhile, Syed Khaja, Environmental Officer in the KSPCB, has denied allegations of any wrongdoing by the board. He told TNM that they are acting as per NGT orders and 10 teams of the KSPCB are carrying out sample collections in apartments, which are built in the catchment area of the Bellandur lake. When asked about impropriety alleged by the apartment dwellers regarding sample collection, he claimed that there are two types of sample collection— one which is legal sample collection and another is “grab” sample collection. He said that legal sampling is done only when there is a dispute. He also alleged that the apartment residents are crying foul now as they are made to pay fines.
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K’taka Cabinet expansion: Not all rebels may be ministers, existing ones may have to quit
Highly placed sources in the BJP say that Yediyurappa and the BJP high command are mulling over cutting off some of the rebels who won in Belagavi and Bengaluru.
The Karnataka Cabinet expansion is going to be done by the end of the month, and according to sources, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has made his decision on who will get Cabinet berths and who won’t. The Chief Minister has to balance the promise of ministerial berths, made to former Congress and JD(S) MLAs who rebelled and led to the fall of the previous government; with the aspirations and demands of long term BJP loyalists. Yediyurappa has decided to accommodate some members of both factions, and also taken in regional considerations, to decide on the line-up. Highly placed sources in the BJP say that Yediyurappa and the BJP high command are mulling over cutting off some of the rebels who won in Belagavi and Bengaluru. Currently, there are three rebel MLAs from Belagavi district including Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Mahesh Kumatahalli (Athani) and Srimanth Patil (Kagwad). Sources say that Ramesh Jarkiholi would be given a ministerial berth and he would be put in charge of managing Kumatahalli and Patil. Similarly, BJP insiders say that out of the three rebels in Bengaluru, only one or two will get Cabinet berths. ST Somashekar (Yeshwanthpur) and Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram) could be made ministers while Gopalaiah from Mahalakshmi Layout segment may not bag the Cabinet berth. “There is also talk that only one MLA from Bengaluru would be inducted and that rebel would be asked to manage the others who did not get the berths,” the source added. Accommodating BJP loyalists The promise made to the rebel MLAs, who were to be “rewarded” for their role in bringing down the Congress-JD(S) government last year, gave rise to discontent within the BJP’s state unit, where party loyalists felt sidelined. Senior leaders like Umesk Katti and Murugesh Nirani began lobbying for ministerial berths and also gathering support to ensure that a few loyalists get ministerial berths. Although the high command is set against appointing Nirani as a minister, BJP sources say that Umesh Katti, Aravind Limbavali and Angara from Dakshina Kannada district are front runners for bagging portfolios. Yediyurappa has an obligation of ensuring that a minister from the coastal district, the party’s stronghold, is accommodated in the Cabinet to ensure that the party’s loyal vote bank has adequate representation. Axing existing ministers In order to manage the feud between the rebels and loyalists, the party’s seniors are mulling over axing certain ministers, who are currently serving in the Cabinet. A BJP source said that the party is mulling over getting a senior leader to “voluntarily withdraw and resign” from the ministerial berth in order to quell the discontent. Sources say that the high command is mulling over removing Minister for Environment and Forests, Mines and Geology CC Patil, and a senior leader – either Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai or Large-Scale Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar – would be asked to step down and manage the disgruntled leaders. “Either Bommai or Shettar will be made to resign. This is to show that even senior leaders are not exempt when it comes to ensuring that a stable government can prevail. If one senior leader resigns voluntarily, the other aspirants can be managed easily,” the source added. BJP insiders say that it is also necessary to keep a few Cabinet berths vacant, to ensure that aspirants do not openly rebel. “That’s why all 11 rebels cannot be made ministers. The Cabinet will become Belagavi or Bengaluru-heavy. Representation must be distributed equally and for that some sacrifices have to be made,” the source added.
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Bangladeshi teen allegedly raped for 4 days, was brought to Bengaluru on job promise
The gruesome incident came to light after the woman escaped the people tormenting her and reported the crime.
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A 19-year-old woman from Bangladesh was trafficked to India and allegedly raped by a man in Bengaluru. The gruesome incident came to light after the woman escaped the people tormenting her and reported the crime at the Yelahanka Police Station on January 22. The woman is a native of Digolia village of Narail district in Bangladesh. In her complaint, the woman alleged that she was raped over four days in a locked house in northeastern Bengaluru before she managed to escape. She claimed that a woman and a man worked in tandem to bring her to Bengaluru promising her a job before she was raped. She stated that her parents are daily wage labourers in Bangladesh. She offered to find work to help support her family and crossed into India by boat on a river. She told the police that she reached a railway station where she met a woman who promised her a job. "The woman promised her that she would get the teenager a job in a beauty parlour and brought her to Bengaluru. The Bangladeshi woman travelled in trains and buses in India and reached the city. She says she was kept in a locked house with a man who forced himself on her repeatedly for four days," a police official in Yelahanka told TNM. In her complaint, the woman says that she was later offered a job as a sex worker and was promised a pay of Rs 60,000 per month. Frightened by the prospect of the job, the woman found an opportunity on January 22 to escape. She sought help from members of the public who called the police control room. "She spoke only Bangla and did not even understand Hindi. She had been given an Indian sim card which was activated on January 10. We have not come across similar cases like this in Yelahanka," says the police official. The official added that the woman is neither able to recognise the house she was locked in nor is she able to identify the people who tormented her. The woman was sent to a government run rehabilitation centre run by the women and child welfare department. Police stated that her identity will be cross checked with officials in Bangladesh before she is possibly deported back to her home country. The police in Bengaluru detained as many as 60 persons on Saturday, suspecting them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They were detained in Marathahalli, Ramamurthynagar and Bellandur police station limits before they were deported to the India-Bangladesh border. Earlier this month, Bengaluru police also arrested three persons stating that they are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in a migrant settlement in Munekolala near Whitefield. Read: Migrant workers in Bengaluru live in fear as police search for Bangladeshi immigrants
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Compulsory Kannada in schools: Educationists say language syllabus is 'easy-to-grasp'
Parents had raised concerns that mandating children to learn a 'tough' language would bring down their average score in exams.
Representation Photo
Following the Karnataka government’s stance that it will not go back on the implementation of compulsory Kannada learning in all schools in the state, several parents and schools had voiced their concerns about their children’s ability to perform well. Parents had raised concerns that with Kannada not being the mother tongue of many children in the state, mandating children to learn it would bring down their average score in exams. With pressure from schools and parents, one important question that arises is: How difficult is the Kannada language syllabus? Speaking to TNM, Madegowda, Director of Karnataka Textbook Society, says that there is a huge difference in difficulty level in first and second language Kannada textbooks in the state. Madegowda says that the second language textbooks are easier and framed to ensure that children, whose mother tongue is not Kannada, can also learn the language. “Children have the capacity to learn whatever new language they can learn. Obviously, marks are important and we understand parents’ concern. But will parents ask the government to remove Mathematics or Science as subjects just because they are difficult? When a child starts learning a language since Class 1, by the time they write board exams in Class 10, they would easily be able to write the exam and score well,” Madegowda says. The Congress government under the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had passed the Kannada Language Learning Act in 2015, making it compulsory for all schools, irrespective of the board, to teach Kannada. The Act came into effect in 2017 and ever since, schools have been mandated to teach Kannada either as a first or second language. The legislation came about after Kannada Development Authority and several pro-Kannada organisations argued for it. Speaking to TNM, Ganesh Chetan, a member of Kannada Grahakara Koota, says that the parents are demanding that Kannada be taught as third language as they don’t care about learning the local language. “Kannada is the official language of our state. This demand for third language is a diversion measure as they (parents) only care about marks. If a child is taught a language from a young age, they will learn it. What’s wrong with learning Kannada? The children will obviously be taught everything from alphabet to grammar. If people are living here, they need to know the language of the people,” Ganesh Chetan questioned. According to Shivarame Gowda, Director of Bengaluru North Division, Department of State Educational Research and Training, the second language Kannada textbooks for primary school children has alphabet, separate sections where children can practise various gradations as opposed to first language textbooks. “For Class 1 Kannada, we have the Savi Kannada textbook and Kannada Nali Kali book. In the lower classes, alphabet and maatraas are taught. The Nali Kali work book has directions on how to write the curves in the letters. It is very easy. Apart from that there are words and phrases. It is not at all difficult,” Shivarame Gowda says. He maintains that unlike First language Kannada textbooks, the second language ones do not have old Kannada lessons for high school students. “The chapters are easy. Lessons are small in a story format compared to those children studying first language. For those children, whose mother tongue is not Kannada, if they start learning from Class 1, it will not be difficult. That is why the state government decided to implement it in a phased manner,” he says. Corroborating his view, Basavaraju, Executive Director of Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), an NGO that works towards public policy in education and health, says that encouraging students to learn new languages is important. “My mother tongue is Kannada. But I also speak Hindi and English. It is a common perception that Hindi is the national language when it is not. What If someone is living here and studying here, it becomes necessary to learn the state’s official language. Imposing Hindi goes against the principles of federalism and we must respect that different languages are spoken in different states. There is nothing wrong with making it mandatory to learn Kannada,” Basavaraju said.
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Bengaluru cops nab two ATM thieves red-handed after SBI control room alerts them
With their arrest, police have also solved three other cases of ATM robberies
Representational image
Quick action by the Mumbai control room of the State Bank of India in alerting Bengaluru police prevented yet another ATM robbery and made way for the arrest of the two culprits, a wrestler and his associate from Punjab. The staff at the Mumbai control room in the wee hours of Sunday had alerted the police after noticing blank visuals from the kiosk as the robbers had reportedly stuck chewing gum and sprayed black paint on the CCTV cameras to avoid getting detected. Media reports said Harsh Aror, a wrestler and his associate Samarjoth Singh, were arrested by police on Sunday while they were trying to get away with Rs 13 lakh of stolen cash. Times of India quoted DCP West Ramesh Banoth as saying that the ATM kiosk on Mysuru Road opposite BHEL, was targeted between 1:20 and 1:50 am. He said after entering the kiosk, the duo wore helmets and blackened the cameras, This is when the Mumbai control room staff alerted the police and police on Hoysala vehicles left to check SBI ATMs in the stretch between JJ Nagar to Rajarajeshwari Nagar as the control room could not identify the particular kiosk. It was then that Chandra Layout Inspector Brijesh Matthew who was out on night patrol spotted the BHEL kiosk and found something was burning even though the shutter was down. During the confrontation, two police constables were injured after the robbers attacked with an iron rod. But they were soon overpowered. Police caught them red-handed with the stolen money, along with gas cutters and oxygen masks amongst other evidence. With their arrest, police have also solved three other cases of ATM robberies. Police said this was incidentally their fourth attempt at robbing an ATM. They had successfully robbed an ATM in Parappana Agrahara recently. Their other two attempts proved to be futile. The duo had apparently taken to robbing ATMs after being inspired by YouTube videos.
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